The Sunday Edition

Deer Hill Farm was on Town Farm Road outside of Quechee Vermont. Romantically charming, it truly captured the essence of the Northeast. At 17, after graduating from HS, I was invited to move into this rambling red farmhouse/commune to live with my boyfriend and 8 other Dartmouth grad students.

My room was on the second floor and the view was nothing short of spectacular..it begged you to write haiku-ridges and ridges of mountains which finally faded into the muted blue sky. A spring fed pond in the backyard, surrounded by wild flowers, whispered to the deer calling them to drink.

Some days I would climb the spooky stairs to the attic..we had an old record player up there and I would open the windows and blast Joni Mitchell tunes across the valley..dancing with my shadow across creaky floors.
One or two cats would follow me there-content to put up with the music for the glorious rays of bright sunshine which filled the attic.



I spent my days outdoors, getting my hands dirty working in the garden or devouring books while relaxing in an adirondack chair by the pond. When I tired of those activities, I'd wander along what was once the King's Highway connecting the US and Canada..now barely recognizable as a road, let alone a "highway" it was an enchanting path with stone walls and giant oaks.

Buckwheat, our white shepherd/golden mix was a rambunctious puppy then and she was my constant companion..digging her way through our garden. I found it hilariously funny, seeing her covered with rich black earth, but this activity was frowned upon by other members of the household.
We grew most of our own food, trading for things we needed with other communes.

On Sunday morning, we would sit around the pond, drink freshly brewed coffee or tea and thumb through the Sunday Edition of the NY Times..which always ended with the completion of the crossword puzzle.

My kids refer to this time as my "hippy daze"..I called it life at its best..

(sadly the farmhouse burned down in 1974, so I don't have any pictures of it..so I "borrowed" some Vermont real estate photos which capture its essence)